Former officers' welfare association members from the old 6th District Command, including Vietnam War and Korean War meritorious persons, are continuing a 55-year-old dispute over land in Haan-dong, Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi. They obtained reclamation approval in 1971 and began housing site development work, but about five months later the area was designated a development-restricted zone, and they halted the project. Recently, after filing a new suit over one parcel out of the entire site and losing at the first instance, the welfare association is preparing a rally in front of Gwangmyeong City Hall this month along with an appeal.
According to the legal community and the welfare association on the 7th, the dispute began in 1971. At the time, officers without homes, noncommissioned officers, and civilian employees serving at the 6th District Command jointly purchased land in what is now Haan-dong, Gwangmyeong—then part of Siheung County, Gyeonggi—to secure their own homes and formed an officers' welfare association.
The welfare association said 127 people participated at the time, pooling 200,000 to 300,000 won per person of their own money. As the initial participants' rights were divided among multiple heirs such as their children, the number of current right holders has increased to 180.
On Feb. 3 of the same year, they obtained reclamation approval from the Siheung county head and began housing site development work, such as cutting trees and leveling the ground. However, on July 30, about five months later, the area was designated a development-restricted zone, preventing them from continuing the project.
After the project was halted and landslide risks were raised, Gyeonggi Province planted trees on the land starting in 1978 with national and provincial funds. The welfare association claims, "In this process, they did not notify the land owner in advance or compensate for the loss."
The welfare association sought to resume the housing site development project in 1999, but when Gwangmyeong refused to permit logging and land development, it filed a lawsuit. In 2004, the Supreme Court found that, given the welfare association obtained reclamation approval in 1971 and commenced work, the disposition canceling the existing approval was unlawful. However, it also found that merely having received past reclamation approval did not mean that, decades later, new development activities such as logging and land form alteration must be allowed. In 2005, following the Supreme Court's reasoning, the Seoul High Court held that Gwangmyeong's refusal at the time to allow logging and land form alteration was lawful.
The suit that began after 20 years targets a single parcel, not the entire project site. The welfare association said that because the previous litigation covered the whole project, this time they chose a small parcel and decided to seek the court's determination again in the names of individual right holders.
The land at issue is 411 square meters at 576-5 Haan-dong, Gwangmyeong. Two joint owners who are also welfare association members applied last year to cut the trees on this land. When Gwangmyeong refused, they filed an administrative suit to overturn the disposition.
They applied to cut 29 trees, with a logging volume of 10.85 cubic meters. Gwangmyeong rejected the application, citing the area's high forest conservation value and the presence of endangered wild species in the nearby Anteo Ecological Park. The city also cited the possibility that converting the site into a building lot after logging could affect the surrounding environment.
A key issue in the lawsuit was whether they needed Gwangmyeong's permission to cut the trees. The plaintiffs argued that the land at issue is 411 square meters, which is smaller than the 500 square meters threshold, so a simple notification would suffice. The court, however, found that both the logging area and the logging volume must be considered together. Because the logging volume is 10.85 cubic meters, exceeding the 5 cubic meters threshold for permission, Gwangmyeong's approval is required.
The court found it was not excessive for Gwangmyeong to deny the application, considering factors such as the plan in the application to convert the land into a building lot after logging. The Suwon District Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims on Jul. 9.
The welfare association has retained Shin & Kim LLC as its representative and is proceeding with an appeal. In mid-month, it plans to hold a rally with about 100 participants in front of Gwangmyeong City Hall, calling for solutions such as resuming the project or public purchase of the land.
A welfare association official said, "We have been unable to build a house on the land where we obtained reclamation approval and even began construction for more than 50 years," adding, "If development is difficult, our position is to ask for practical solutions, including public purchase of the land."
Gwangmyeong's position is that, regardless of how the project was pursued in the past, current development activities must be judged according to current laws and standards. A Gwangmyeong official said, "Even if there were circumstances in which development was pursued in the past, it must now meet current standards," adding, "Last year's logging application largely failed to meet those standards."
The official added, "If a statement of reasons for appeal is submitted, we will review it and respond," and said, "As for other solutions such as public purchase of the land, it is difficult to answer at this time because the lawsuit is ongoing."